In my elementary school days, I remember that even before we knew what our junk was for, we knew that being gay was bad. Despite not having any idea what it meant, everyone in that culture of children just knew.

The school curriculum included a little diversity training, and we learned from parables told by cartoon bears. Bears told us that some people's skin is brown, that not everyone lives with their mommy and daddy, and that these things should not be problematic. That made sense to me, and those topics were put satisfactorily to rest.

No one mentioned homosexuality. In retrospect, it seems like that would have fit in well with the rest of the bears' tolerance tales. But apparently to talk on that subject, you had to be as edgy as South Park, and a few years later I saw Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride. Stan learned that it's okay to be gay, that made sense to me, and that misconception was resolved.

There are a few things I'm confused about.

• How are third-graders finding out about our culture's sexual bigotry? Who's telling them? Why?
• Why can't bears address, even in vague terms, sexuality?
• Do people not watch South Park, or did they somehow just fail to grasp Big Gay Al's very simple big gay lesson?